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The Journey of Allen Strange
The Journey of Allen Strange is a television series that ran on Nickelodeon's SNICK block of programming for three seasons. It premiered on November 8, 1997 and finished airing on April 23, 2000. It is a sitcom with elements of science fiction centered around an alien living undercover on Earth. Premise The series follows the story of a young Xelan alien (Arjay Smith) who is stranded on earth, and meets up with a young girl Robbie Stevenson (Erin Dean) and her younger brother Josh (Shane Sweet) and father. This family eventually adopts him, giving him the name "Allen Strange". Allen has extraordinary powers, including the ability to turn into his alien form, which allows him to hover. He uses his abilities to bring a mannequin in a sporting goods store to life; this "animated mannequin" poses as Allen's Earth father, Manfred, for events like parent-teacher conferences. He also possesses extremely high intelligence and can read incredibly fast by simply placing his hand on the cover of a book. Allen has an affinity for canned cheese, and lives in the family's attic in a strange alien cocoon. Allen states he has "chosen" to be African-American when confronted with the task of blending in with society. His naivety on the subject (bringing in plain black posterboards for his Black History Month presentation) sparked a Black History Month episode, featuring Allen learning information about slavery and The Civil Rights Movement. In the weeks leading up to the series' premiere, Nickelodeon ran a series of teaser ads which would at first appear to be promos for other shows, or for Nickelodeon in general, when a blue ooze would fill the screen as an announcer said cryptically, "Something strange is coming to SNICK. November 8." The blue ooze would then clear out and the interrupted promo would conclude as if nothing had happened. Characters Main *'Allen Strange' - The main protagonist who is a Xelan alien disguised as a human. All he wishes to do is to go back to his planet. He is played by Arjay Smith. *'Roberta "Robbie" Stevenson' - A 15-year-old girl who enjoys surfing and helps show Allen how to fit in with humans. She is played by Erin Dean. *'Joshua "Josh" Stevenson' - Robbie's 10-year-old younger brother and a science whiz. He is played by Shane Sweet. *'Kenneth "Ken" Stevenson' - Robbie and Josh's father who is unaware of Allen as an alien. He is played by Jack Tate. Recurring *'Gail Stevenson' - Robbie and Josh's mother who is separated from their father, but always comes to visit them. She is played by Mary Chris Wall. *'Manfred Strange' - Originally just a store mannequin, but was brought to life to serve as Allen's earth father. He often helps Allen out of dangerous situations and is a good friend of Ken who nicknames him "Manny". He is played by Robert Crow. *'Latanya' - Robbie's best friend who shares the same interests. She is played by Jaquita Ta'le. *'Harold "Moose" Johnson' - The captain of the high school wrestling team and also a bully. Allen tries several times to befriend him after he unintentionally upsets him, but his strange habits only annoy him. He is played by Sean Babb. *'Phil Berg' - Allen's arch-enemy, a crazed Alien hunter and journalist who constantly tries to capture Allen and expose for a top news story. He was later captured by Xelan's enemies the Trykloids and used as a pawn for information on earth. He is played by Dee Bradley Baker. *'Shaw' - Allen's second arch-enemy, another sinister Alien hunter whose face is never seen and appearance is hidden with a big black fedora and a trench coat. He wants to capture Allen and lock him up to prove to the world that aliens exist. He sometimes teams up with Phil Berg to achieve this goal. He is played by J. Kenneth Campbell. Book series A series of nine books, each adapted from an episode of the show, was published. The tie-in books were written by several authors, including John Vornholt and Mel Odom. #''The Arrival'' #''Invasion'' #''Split Image'' #''Legacy'' #''Depth Charge'' #''Alien Vacation'' #''Election Connection'' #''Joyride'' #''Changeling Diapers'' Episodes Trivia * Allen's name was chosen because it is spelled similarly to "alien." * 11 original songs were produced for the show, but they were never released. * The series' logo was remastered for its release on VRV. External links * * Category:Live-action shows Category:Shows Category:Cancelled shows Category:SNICK shows Category:Science Fiction Category:1990s premieres